Why do we press harder on a remote-control when we know the battery is dead?

February, 1998 - The world's longest one way mirror.

That is what some call the 49th parallel dividing line between Canada and the United States. While this may be much more important when talking about things like international news, it is most noticeable when the local weather broadcaster shows the overview. The United States is an island that has a whole lot of weather out in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, but surprisingly nothing happens above the 49th parallel. Would it be so hard to show the world as viewed from the perspective of the satellites above?

March, 1998 - With delusions of adequacy.

The IFX Group site has been a little static lately due to other pressing issues and demands on our time. We apologize for this lack of motion and will be putting in some extra time in an attempt to restore our previous momentum. As always, your suggestions and help are very much appreciated.

April, 1998 - The Last Modem.

The wheel is turning, but the hamster is gone. The IFX Group celebrates our 10th birthday this month. Sadly our dial-up lines have become nearly unused. Most of our users now connect through our Internet connection. As a result, we are shutting down our last dial-up line at the end of this month. It has been a wonderful ride, but technology is moving forward.

May, 1998 - Consider IPAD.

If you are looking for the easiest way to connect your whole company to the Internet, provide high performance email to all of your employees, host your own web site, offer files for your customers and protect all of that with a world class firewall, check out the IPAD 2500. This is a device that literally takes minutes from box to completely working Internet. Live demonstrations are being given all over the world that show this amazing feat being done in 15 minutes while answering a few very simple questions. No other device can claim the security or reliability that the IPAD has today.

June, 1998 - Oiled Up.

Why then are we so worried about the price of oil in the world? We know it is a fixed resource we can't really make any more of and at some point we will run out. Why not charge the premium price now and use the excess money to fund research into what we can do when the oil is gone?

If you think about it, the whole economy would change if the price for a gallon of gas went to $5.00, $10.00 or more. Instantly those big SUV iron-boxes-on-wheels that are so popular lately would become much less popular. This would force the development of new cars and new technologies to make our current cars more efficient. It would also force us all to think a little more about simply jumping into the car for a quick trek across town for something that really is not that important.

If Honda can make a 55+ MPG gasoline powered car (CRX HF model) in 1990, why is it still so hard for an America car company to match that feat in a production car?

July, 1998 - Through the Eyes of Another.

We all see the world through different eyes. And all learn differently. What is obvious to one may be invisible to another. But sometimes our biggest differences can also be our greatest assets. Because we don't really learn as much from those who see things the same way. We learn more from those who see them differently. So when we can view things through the eyes of another, and look at them in a new light, there is no limit to what we can learn about each other and ourselves.

A different perspective can change everything.

August, 1998 - New Bandwidth.

The IFX Group has moved to a new Internet connection. With this connection we hope to not only improve our bandwidth, but also to make it easier to reach us from anywhere in the world. We are now closer to one of the primary backbones in the United States. Since most computers limit their packets to pass through 30 routers or less, being closer to the backbone will allow those who are not close to a backbone to reach us where they may not have been able to before. Please let us know if you have any problems or questions about our new connection.

September, 1998 - The Notice Ability.

Count the F's in the following sentence. Count them only once.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-IC STUDY COMBINED WITHTHE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Continue reading only when you are done.

Answer: There are six F's in the sentence. A person of average ability to notice details finds three of them. If you spotted four, you're above average. If you got five, you notice more than most anybody. If you caught six, you are very perceptive and should be telling others what they are missing. If you caught seven or more, your reading and math skills are a little too creative for our simple demonstration.

There is no catch. Many people forget the OF's. The human brain tends to see them as V's and not F's.

October, 1998 - Cost and Price.

Everything has a cost, even those things with a price of free. It is easiest to look through the eyes of history to really understand the difference between price and cost. Consider not just the money involved, but also the time. Some things are free to get, but cost a lot to keep. Other things cost a lot to get, but cost nothing to keep. Knowing the difference between the two and how to really compare the total costs is what all this is about.

How much does it really cost to show compassion to someone?

November, 1998 - Practically impractical.

The past few years have revealed in these pages a number of interesting points to consider. The effort is to bring the points, when possible, to a practical level where they can be useful. But that does not appear work for everyone. Unfortunately there are some who staunchly refuse to be practical or to even consider options or possibilities other than their own views. We invite those people to write their own thoughts down. Sometimes things look different when you see them in writing for the first time.

December, 1998 - The joke goes:

How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None - Bill Gates just declares darkness the new standard.

It is sad that a company with the well demonstrated ability to create such popular user interfaces can't seem to grasp the not-so-subtle game of following published standards, even when they are the company doing the publishing. In the end nobody wins, but maybe that is the game they want to play.